[Rozay]

Not trying to be an @SS, but what do you like about the guy?

To me he seems he talks a lot of shi7 in interviews and also seems to kiss Jose's backside whenever he has the chance.

In regards to your other side of the post, you are mostly right but wrong on the spurs part. He is suited to everton, at max.

The guy lacks:
- first touch
- passing
- positioning
- runs between the lines
- decent finishing ability
- heading ability (not entirely but he is not that good at it)

I am definitely not trying to hate on him or on you, but considering the above, how the feck is he suited for a top 2-4 team like Spurs?

He seems a decent lad and not very flashy like today's idiot football players, but as a playet himself he is bang average.

I know I am bashing him when he is on form, but I feel most of us were tricked by his high scoring rate and were expecting a really good striker.

He’s good at heading the ball. If he could have an abundance of headed chances in the 6 yard box, then he may actually be useful.

Poster earlier said he’d be at Bolton or Stoke 10 years ago, which is spot on. He’s been no better than Jason Roberts this season.

 

[Pow]

Worst thing about the one where lingard tries plays him in. If he let it run through his legs he would have been clean through.

 

[Rhyme Animal]

Not trying to be an @SS, but what do you like about the guy?

To me he seems he talks a lot of shi7 in interviews and also seems to kiss Jose's backside whenever he has the chance.

In regards to your other side of the post, you are mostly right but wrong on the spurs part. He is suited to everton, at max.

The guy lacks:
- first touch
- passing
- positioning
- runs between the lines
- decent finishing ability
- heading ability (not entirely but he is not that good at it)

I am definitely not trying to hate on him or on you, but considering the above, how the feck is he suited for a top 2-4 team like Spurs?

He seems a decent lad and not very flashy like today's idiot football players, but as a playet himself he is bang average.

I know I am bashing him when he is on form, but I feel most of us were tricked by his high scoring rate and were expecting a really good striker.

Ok, straight off, lets remember that I don't think he's right for Utd and that we should get a new CF in the Summer...

But yeah, to answer your points -

1. He's playing in a team that has utterly no identity, at a club that has been poorly run for 5/6 years and has utterly no footballing shape anymore.

He, as a CF cannot shape the play of the team, he can't alter the style of play. He's a traditional CF.

It's ludicrous to suggest that in a team with an identity, a functional midfield and a sturdy defense he wouldn't do better than he's done here.

2. Throughout the majority of his career, he's been a 1 in 2 striker - this is easily good enough for a club like Spurs who don't really compete for trophies and aim to finish top 4.

3. "seems to kiss Jose's backside whenever he has the chance." - Mourinho is his manager! He's a Man Utd player, playing underneath José Mourinho.

This point of yours could (and should) be given to him as a plus! He's obviously not a divisive figure in the dressing room, and gets on with what is asked of him - even when in a clearly divided (rotten?) dressing room.

He's also clearly a popular guy who gets on with his teammates.

So yeah, remembering that I want to get a new CF in the Summer, that's my take on the lad.

The main issues for me in his game are -

His touch is bad
He isn't fast enough / crafty enough with his runs
And he's now too bulky

If you corrected those 3 factors, he'd easily be good enough.

And he's also shown for Belgium that he can do it on the big stages on an International level.

 

[Adisa]

 

[Brophs]

Deliberate, World Cup-focussed bulking up, apparently....

 

[Rozay]

This has got to be the funniest picture. Off at full pelt, ball not going with him.

 

[sullydnl]

Good to see they're addressing the problem.

I mean it had to be deliberate given it's muscle he's put on and not fat, so it should be an easy thing to fix.

 

[breakout67]

Its quite typical of football fans to ignore years of playing well just to come to a pre-determined conclusion.

The only thing missing from Lukaku's game is a good first touch (and for some reason he's taken up bodybuilding this season). He's shown plenty enough for Everton, Belgium and United in his first season.

He would not be out of place in United teams of the past, the major difference is that SAF almost always utilised multiple goalscorers and Lukaku would be a squad player like Hernandez was for multiple years. He's not good enough to start week in week out, but he would be an important member of the squad and chip in with 15-20 goals a season under SAF.

 

[Rozay]

Its quite typical of football fans to ignore years of playing well just to come to a pre-determined conclusion.

The only thing missing from Lukaku's game is a good first touch (and for some reason he's taken up bodybuilding this season). He's shown plenty enough for Everton, Belgium and United in his first season.

He would not be out of place in United teams of the past, the major difference is that SAF almost always utilised multiple goalscorers and Lukaku would be a squad player like Hernandez was for multiple years. He's not good enough to start week in week out, but he would be an important member of the squad and chip in with 15-20 goals a season under SAF.

Your post is a bit of a contradiction, and seems to change direction as it develops.

Firstly, football fans are ignoring years of him playing well, and there’s only one thing missing from his game. Then he wouldn’t look out of place in our better teams under Fergie, yet by the end of your post, he’d have been a squad player then and he’s not good enough to start week in week out.

So which is it? Are fans being forgetful for saying he isn’t good enough or not? Or is he ‘not good enough to start for us’?

 

[el3mel]

I remember few were still arguing at this time it was photoshop. At least the fat lump knows it's a problem.

 

[Tony Babangida]

Needs to bulk down

 

[UncleBob]

Not sure why people bring up his size constantly.

The club will have nutritionists etc who will know a hell of a lot more than posters on here. I would imagine all the players are weighed and have their body fat measured regularly, and the club will keep them at certain weights.

If Lukaku wasn't listening to what he's told by staff, he wouldn't be playing.

I don't think he's good enough, and never really have, but I don't think you can use his size as the issue. It's his touch and lack of effort that lets him down.

So yeah, what we've been saying for some time is confirmed by Lukaku himself, that he bulked up on purpose for the world cup.

No idea why anyone in the club would allow it.

 

[PlayerOne]

Also said he was tired at the start of the season. Then you wonder, why did Mourinho play him in every minute of every game? Crazy really.

 

[El Jefe]

And this is a major problem I have with Mourinho. If it was obvious Lukaku's muscle gain was going to have an adverse effect on his performance why did he not limit his minutes until he was back in 100% condition. What has transpired is Lukaku was allowed to stink up the place for 2 months leading to fans turning on him and his confidence plummeting to an all time low before ultimately being dropped. Had we used Sanchez or Rashford more up front with Lukaku being eased into the team in the first 3 months we'd be no worse off than we currently are and the morale of our attackers especially Lukaku would not be this low.

It seems he will go out of his way to play 'his type' of player even when common sense dictates the opposite. It'll be no surprise if we hear Matic admit that the lack of preseason plus injury affected his early season form. Again Jose has played him to no end regardless of his condition.

I'm no fan of Lukaku but even his most ardent critics know he's nowhere near as poor as he has been this season. Last season he had his faults but also displayed what he's good at and was surprisingly one of our few good players in the second half of the season.

 

[Zlatattack]

Lukaku much like Rooney gets his goals in batches. Now he's scored a couple I expect him to do well for the rest of the season.

Interesting to read about the bulking. Good to see he's addressed it.

 

[Silas]

Not trying to be an @SS, but what do you like about the guy?

Is there an issue?

 

[WR10]

Key point about the multiple tests that he has been undergoing with the medical staff during this whole time. The whole club knew he is not ready for competition. Lukaku knew he personally is not fit enough to be on a football field. Mourinho himself definitely would have been pestered by all the reports of his physical examinations. Every. One. At the club has known for the past 3 months that Lukaku should not be playing football.

Why on God’s earth has he been put on a football pitch as much as he has been in the past 3 months?? Baffling. The only explanation I can think of is Mourinho digesting all this information from the medical staff and choosing to completely deny science and inadvertently embarrass an out of shape Lukaku on the field week in week out.

It’s a great interview, well said about a lot of things but it really just made the situation even more bizarre tbh.

 

[Foxbatt]

Yes. I mean actually insane. Like deranged

I mean like the Cruijff turn we should call it the Lukaku turn.

 

[Adisa]

You have to question Mourinho for playing him.

 

[Bobski]

His increase in size was obvious. The guy has always been erratic technically(one of the main reasons so many were against his initial signing) but this year has been a massive regression even from his mediocre level, barely looked a footballer at times. Bulking up quickly can be a problem in a finesse sport like football, all the little micro adjustments to control balls spinning into you at different speeds/off wet pitches/under lights, you need to feel in full control of the body. Excess weight gain in a short period can mess with coordination.

Belgium trainers might be at fault but he would not be the first Utd player in recent years to go through the same process and see his game suffer. Valencia and Depay both put significant muscle on quickly and lost some of their fluidity. If you look back on Valencia during his first couple of years he is noticeably leaner, his game was better for it.

 

[Ashley R1+O]

Berba's take on the situation.

Excellent take. Aside from his wider point that the service regardless of Lukaku's form and ability to score goals has been absolutely dreadful is correct. Off-point the way the reporter was trying to needle in and shithouse over Berbatov's clear answer of "settle down, goals aren't everything". "innit, well goals are everything innit!" feck just let the great man Berba speak and explain himself. Represents the most repulsive aspects of football media at the moment and perfectly encapsulated one of the big drivers of the over the top hysteria breeding alarming levels of negativity on this board and in general in this thread.

 

[Steven Seagull]

What a fecking idiot

 

[kouroux]

So yeah, what we've been saying for some time is confirmed by Lukaku himself, that he bulked up on purpose for the world cup.

No idea why anyone in the club would allow it.

No idea why some of our members were denying this truth Some were saying it was a matter of angles ffs

 

[Water Melon]

No idea why some of our members were denying this truth Some were saying it was a matter of angles ffs

He certainly has a different frame this season. Not sure why any sane physio or dietician would recommend him to put on extra muscle to improve his performance levels.

 

[kouroux]

He certainly has a different frame this season. Not sure why any sane physio or dietician would recommend him to put on extra muscle to improve his performance levels.

That's just madness to me, the guy wasn't lacking in strength and speed. More muscle to his body frame is hindering because pro footballers don't need that much. I'd understand it if he is amateur player who wants to develop his physique but a pro footballer ???

 

[el3mel]

No idea why some of our members were denying this truth Some were saying it was a matter of angles ffs

Some love to argue for the sake of it.

 

[youmeletsfly]

Is there an issue?

I accidentally quoted you. I was just trying to write ass in a different way thinking it would be normally censored.

 

[Smores]

That's a very strange interview. A bit of self-excusing from Lukaku perhaps? Not like he can just lose all that added muscle overnight either

 

[Greck]

He certainly has a different frame this season. Not sure why any sane physio or dietician would recommend him to put on extra muscle to improve his performance levels.

Doubt anyone told him to do this. A fitness coach for endurance athletes would never have a player ignoring his core to focus on isolation exercises for traps and biceps. Suspect Lukaku just did this to look good

 

[jeff_goldblum]

I think the thing Berbatov is highlighting in the video above is that, with very few exceptions, every player has weaknesses in their game which the manager and teammates should take into account. If you fizz the ball at Berbatov in a tight space he'll control it. Lukaku won't and you can't expect him to thrive off that sort of service. At the same time Berbatov wouldn't have scored half as many if the only service he was getting was balls in behind the defence to chase. You have to play to the strengths of the players you have - we aren't playing to Lukaku's.

Of course, that's not to say that Lukaku isn't playing badly, he is, and as has now been confirmed he has put on too much bulk which, combined with poor form, is exacerbating his weaknesses. He's in a rut at the moment and it's come at a time when we're in a poor league position, our general play isn't great, our defence is shipping goals and our back-up options aren't delivering either. As a result he's under a lot more pressure from the media and the fans than a player in his position would have been in our better years and that's clearly gotten to him. Hopefully getting back on the scoresheet will be the start of a turnaround.

Ultimately, I'm unsure he's a league winning striker but he's shown his quality before and it seems unlikely that we're going to invest big in another first team striker in this window so we should be playing to his strengths. I can understand that some folks don't think his skillset suits the sort of football they want us playing, but that doesn't mean he's shite or useless. He scored 27 goals last season in a very defensive set-up, in a functioning side he should be topping 30, which would be our best return from a striker since before RVP.

 

[UncleBob]

Excellent take. Aside from his wider point that the service regardless of Lukaku's form and ability to score goals has been absolutely dreadful is correct. Off-point the way the reporter was trying to needle in and shithouse over Berbatov's clear answer of "settle down, goals aren't everything". "innit, well goals are everything innit!" feck just let the great man Berba speak and explain himself. Represents the most repulsive aspects of football media at the moment and perfectly encapsulated one of the big drivers of the over the top hysteria breeding alarming levels of negativity on this board and in general in this thread.

Bizarre rant. The service to Lukaku hasn't been absolutely dreadful, you're completely ignoring Lukaku's part in it, and a player that openly states his fitness hasn't been good enough.

Berbatovs point about "Goals aren't everything" would be fine if Lukaku was actually there to do something else as well, like bringing other players in, assisting.

 

[UncleBob]

You have to play to the strengths of the players you have - we aren't playing to Lukaku's.

People keep stating that we aren't playing to Lukakus strengths, but nobody bothers to explain why they feel that way. What is it we're doing wrong ?

 

[Water Melon]

Doubt anyone told him to do this. A fitness coach for endurance athletes would never have a player ignoring his core to focus on isolation exercises for traps and biceps. Suspect Lukaku just did this to look good

He was lean and looked like a real pro footballer frame-wise. What was he thinking in gaining that extra muscle, and again was he doing this secretly, so that none of our physios and fitness coaches intervened? Why would a fitness coach from the Belgian NT recommend this before the WC, or is it just bollocks by Rom?

 

[Greck]

He was lean and looked like a real pro footballer frame-wise. What was he thinking in gaining that extra muscle, and again was he doing this secretly, so that none of our physios and fitness coaches intervened? Why would a fitness coach from the Belgian NT recommend this before the WC, or is it just bollocks by Rom?

tbf he doesn't actually say anybody from the Belgium camp adviced him to do this.

 

[11101]

People keep stating that we aren't playing to Lukakus strengths, but nobody bothers to explain why they feel that way. What is it we're doing wrong ?

We play him as a target man. A target man needs an incredible touch and close control with very good movement, vision and passing. Zlatan was a target man. Lukaku has the touch, control and agility of a baby elephant and he is not a particularly brilliant creator.

He's only dangerous when hes up to speed running at defenders and shooting or getting onto the end of passes/crosses, something he almost never gets to do with us.

 

[UncleBob]

We play him as a target man. A target man needs an incredible touch and close control with very good movement, vision and passing. Zlatan was a target man. Lukaku has the touch, control and agility of a baby elephant and he is not a particularly brilliant creator.

He's only dangerous when hes up to speed running at defenders and shooting or getting onto the end of passes/crosses, something he almost never gets to do with us.

Did the same last season, he was largely considered a massive success by the majority on here

 

[Djemba-Djemba]

Did the same last season, he was largely considered a massive success by the majority on here

I wouldn't say massive success.

Miles better than the Lukaku we've had this season though yeah.

 

[jeff_goldblum]

People keep stating that we aren't playing to Lukakus strengths, but nobody bothers to explain why they feel that way. What is it we're doing wrong ?

Playing balls into his feet under pressure as if he's suddenly going to be a great target man/hold-up play striker is a big issue. At the best of times it's wasting his other talents, in his current form you might as well just pass it straight to the opposition. If we want to use him as an easy ''out" ball from defence we'd be better off putting the ball into the channels for him to chase than trying to play fast into his feet or lumping it onto his head.

He's at his best when you give him decent service into the box, or on quick breaks when you give him something to run onto or he can use his movement to create space for others. If we continue to get the sort of service into the box as Dalot did against Fulham, Lukaku will prosper as he comes back into form.

 

[UncleBob]

Playing balls into his feet under pressure as if he's suddenly going to be a great target man/hold-up play striker is a big issue. At the best of times it's wasting his other talents, in his current form you might as well just pass it straight to the opposition. If we want to use him as an easy ''out" ball from defence we'd be better off putting the ball into the channels for him to chase than trying to play fast into his feet or lumping it onto his head.

He's at his best when you give him decent service into the box, or on quick breaks when you give him something to run onto or he can use his movement to create space for others. If we continue to get the sort of service into the box as Dalot did against Fulham, Lukaku will prosper as he comes back into form.

Why isn't the bold part the major problem here, his current form.

 

[11101]

Did the same last season, he was largely considered a massive success by the majority on here

By who? Pretty much everyone i saw thought he'd had a reasonable season but he needed to do a lot more to be a success here long term. He got some goals but his all round play was being called out by a lot of people.